Spiffy:

Iffy:

Do we really need another WWII game?

When the Xbox 360 was released last year, there was one launch game that was almost universally lauded by critics and gamers alike. It seemed like just about everyone who purchased one of the consoles also grabbed a copy of Call of Duty 2 (the game had a remarkably high attach rate), and for good reason. Like the PC version that came before it, the game featured some of the most intense battlefield action ever seen in a video game, one of the hallmarks of the CoD franchise. Now, Activision is preparing to bring a new battle home, but they've made a number of changes for Call of Duty 3. First off, Treyarch, the developer behind the current-gen CoD games, will be taking over Infinity Ward (who we presume is hard at work on Call of Duty 4). Secondly, the game will be coming to just about every system except PC. Why? Well, we're not really sure.

Call of Duty 3 takes place during (you guessed it) World War II, specifically during what's called the "Normandy Breakout" segment. Over the course of 88 days following the landings at Normandy, Allied forces made their way to Nazi-occupied Paris, finally liberating it in August of 1944. The game details the battles that made up this part of the war, and for the first time, you'll be able to play as soldiers from four different nations as you proceed through the game. The 90th Infantry from the United States will be present, as will the British Special Air Service (or SAS), one of the world's most elite Special Forces units. In addition to these two, you'll also be able to battle alongside Canadian and Polish forces.

Screen taken from Xbox 360 version

While we didn't get a chance to play the game for ourselves, we were treated to a fairly lengthy demo that detailed some of the new additions to the series. The level we saw took place during the Battle of Saint-Lo, a French town that was supposed to be taken on D-Day, but ended up being contested for 40 days. When the demo kicked off, our nameless character was sitting in the back of a moving troop transport, watching one of his squadmates try to catch a ride. Suddenly, numerous explosions killed his buddy and knocked over the truck, throwing our hero clear. He was pulled to his feet by his fellow soldiers, who then charged off toward the battle that was taking place just on the other side of a short wall.

What we found when we vaulted over the wall was nothing short of all-out chaos, as bullets tore through the smoke-filled air (and the bodies of some unlucky souls). If you thought Call of Duty 2 was intense, you haven't seen anything yet. There's chaos all around you, with explosions tearing apart buildings and bodies literally flying through the air, but it pays to stop and take aim instead of just firing blindly at far-off enemies. As was the case with the previous games, your best bet is to use the iron sights to aim more precisely, and we noticed a cool depth-of-field effect that slightly blurred the screen when you raised the rifle to your eye. It's a neat little effect, especially when you consider that even a wasted millisecond can mean the difference between life and death.